TomWhite Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Hi all! Have been out the past couple of weekends to my local sharks teeth spot - Bawdsey in Suffolk, the first three trips i spent on the first area of the beach directly below the red crag cliffs. Found a few but none of really any quality. Best one was a very pretty patterned Carcharocles auriculatus ? (Can anyone confirm?) seen in the first photo top left, and a very worn large tooth (seen in the second photo, looks a bit Meggy?) - I have no idea about species on this one! As well as the usual Carcharias hopei and Striatolamia macrota, a couple of fish verts, some seed pods and ray teeth. Had my most productive day ever yesterday though, after not finding to many previously in my usual spots, went to a spot slightly further along and ended up with 156 teeth in about two hours!! None that were out of the ordinary however just the usual species. Some kid on the beach who was also searching had a perfect Otodus, it must have been nearly 3 inches long!! I was rather jealous of him! Can anyone ID the larger tooth that is bottom left? Still after the 6 inch Meg from this spot! Thanks for reading!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 1 hour ago, TomWhite said: Best one was a very pretty patterned Carcharocles auriculatus ? (Can anyone confirm?) seen in the first photo top left A close-up of just that tooth would be helpful in making an ID. Looks like you had a great day at the beach. You now see the rewards of going further along a well-hunted beach. I had a similar experience several years back when my wife and I visited Cayo Costa off Florida's southwest coast. Not much in the way of fossils on this beach (but a hint of the black phosphatic gravel). The prize here were (modern) sea shells as the island is only accessible by ferry and so the hunting pressure is more limited. Walked the beach and didn't see much but broken shells (and a lot of other beachcombers). Decided to walk to the end of the island before turning around and heading back. We soon left the less motivated hunters and had the beach all to ourselves for the next hour or so. Just after the other footprints in the sand dwindled and then disappeared the shells magically appeared (in abundance). Always good to "go the extra mile". Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy B Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Very nice haul!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomWhite Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 19 minutes ago, digit said: A close-up of just that tooth would be helpful in making an ID. Looks like you had a great day at the beach. You now see the rewards of going further along a well-hunted beach. I had a similar experience several years back when my wife and I visited Cayo Costa off Florida's southwest coast. Not much in the way of fossils on this beach (but a hint of the black phosphatic gravel). The prize here were (modern) sea shells as the island is only accessible by ferry and so the hunting pressure is more limited. Walked the beach and didn't see much but broken shells (and a lot of other beachcombers). Decided to walk to the end of the island before turning around and heading back. We soon left the less motivated hunters and had the beach all to ourselves for the next hour or so. Just after the other footprints in the sand dwindled and then disappeared the shells magically appeared (in abundance). Always good to "go the extra mile". Cheers. -Ken Hi Ken, Please see photos. Apologies they are not the best quality and there isn't any scale! Yes agreed, its hard to pull myself away from what i consider to be the best area though! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Hard to make out much detail in the tooth to see if there is evidence of the characteristic side cusps--I'm not seeing any. A higher resolution image may be of more help. Here's a tightened and enlarged crop of one of the images above. C. auriculatus is reported from the Late Eocene through the Early Oligocene (approximately 35-25 mya). Do you know the approximate age of the fossil formation that these teeth are coming from? That might provide a quick answer as to the possibility of this species being found on that beach. I only know of this species coming from North & South Carolina and Morocco but that's not saying they can occur elsewhere. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomWhite Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 45 minutes ago, digit said: Hard to make out much detail in the tooth to see if there is evidence of the characteristic side cusps--I'm not seeing any. A higher resolution image may be of more help. Here's a tightened and enlarged crop of one of the images above. C. auriculatus is reported from the Late Eocene through the Early Oligocene (approximately 35-25 mya). Do you know the approximate age of the fossil formation that these teeth are coming from? That might provide a quick answer as to the possibility of this species being found on that beach. I only know of this species coming from North & South Carolina and Morocco but that's not saying they can occur elsewhere. Cheers. -Ken Hi Ken, Many thanks for your reply. The formation varies in age, London Clay around 50 mya, red crag only around 2.5 mya. So im guessing not C. auriculatus? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Would seem to predate their rein in the seas. I'm out of my depth when I discuss shark teeth outside of South Florida so possibly someone with more local knowledge can offer some better identifications. Megs would be out of the picture as well as they are even younger. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Nice haul! 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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